| Username |
Post |
| ashu |
Posted
on 28-Sep-01 03:24 AM
Hi all,
In that thread on globalization, capitalism and all that I was naively hoping to
make TWO broad strands of arguments based on liberalism (liberalism, as it is understood in America):
First, I wanted to make a 'liberal case' AGAINST the arguments of those
attack globalization for all the demosntrably wrong reasons. That is by
discarding -- without misconstruing what the critics were saying -- what I
thought were silly/problematic/misinformed arguments first.
This step seemed important enough to me to FIRST make room to develop
consistent arguments later. Yes, having heard the same claptrap from many Nepalis, I wanted to use a strong tone -- NOT to be a drooling slave of capitalism, globalization and all that -- but to JOLT people out of their comfortable assumptions.)
Second, having done the first, I wanted to make a critique of capitalism, globalization and all that based on what I see in Nepal where the markets are
not perfect, where reforms get a bad name and all that.
But as things happened here (with self-declared "controversial" contributor
taking gross offense and all that, and with my usual "anonymous " attackers from Somerville then jumping into the fray to make me look a dog), that JOLT I had meant appeared way much more than I had anticipated.
But hey that's life.
And that's that.
Now , thankfully, the latest edition of The Economist contains two thought-provoking articles (one long, one short) that may be of interest to those who STILL want to explore a bit more about liberalism, globalisation, international capitalism and all that.
Please ignore this if you are not interested.
http://www.economist.com/surveys/displaystory.cfm?story_id=795995
AND
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=797603
oohi
ashu
ktm, np
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| nobody |
Posted
on 28-Sep-01 05:28 PM
Also relevant:
http://www.globalissues.com/
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| diwas k |
Posted
on 28-Sep-01 06:48 PM
Noam Chomsky's view on free market might be relevant here.
http://www.lipmagazine.org/articles/featchomsky_63.htm
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| Rajib |
Posted
on 29-Sep-01 06:01 PM
Ashu,
Another interesting book is Lords of Poverty "the power, prestige, and curruption of the internationla aid business" by Gramham Hancock. Need to read
Rajib Sharma
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| Harvard Seminar Series |
Posted
on 02-Oct-01 05:27 PM
For those of you interested in the issue of Globalisation.
Title: Moral Change and Globalization
Speaker: Arthur Kleinman, Department of Anthropology, Harvard University
Thursday, 4 October, 4:30-6:00pm
Center for Population and Development Studies
9 Bow St., Cambridge
Contact: Suzanne Carlson Harvard Center for Population and Development
Studies 9 Bow St., Cambridge, MA 02138
tele: 617-495-0417
fax: 617-495-5418
e-mail: suzyq@hsph.harvard.edu
Entry is open to all - do not nee to posses a Harvard Card!!!
|
| amina |
Posted
on 03-Oct-01 11:12 AM
I would really like to read the thoughts/critiques of some of you on capitalism, globalization, especially from a Nepalese perspective. So far I have only come across critiques of other people and read other articles that have been referred here. And yes, the Sept 11 tragedy did not happen because of globalization and capitalism, but rather due to some US foreign policy choices in the middle east (I won’t try going into details there)
The two articles are thought provoking. The arguments for globalization sound rational in theory. They may look nice in text books and make sense to Ivy league students. And I bet for a good majority, that’s all they care about, theorizing in papers. But I am still skeptical as to the practicality of such theories. Yes, I am a skeptic, because I am yet to see the wonders of globalization happening in countries in Latin America, or Nepal or many other South Asian countries. Does the invisible hand really work to serve the community as a whole when people and corporations make decisions to pursue their own interests? Or does that hand push the rich and poor farther away from each other to increase the gap of inequality? Do the benefits of free trade really trickle down to the poorest? I wonder if they’ll even be there by the time it reaches them. From my perspective, globalization appears more like a race between a hare and a tortoise (yeah in theory and in fairy tales). “The slow and steady wins the race”. Except in this reality, the hare falls asleep on the back of the tortoise and enjoys a free ride (while the developing countries are struggling to develop). I would like to quote something from an article at this point. This is from “The panacea myth” by Kevin Gallagher published in Jul/Aug 2001 issue of The International Economy.
Dani Rodrik, one of the world’s leading trade economists, has recently co- authored a study for the National Bureau of Economic Research. He found that neither trade nor capital liberalization was strongly linked with development. Indeed, in a summary of the report he wrote, “ If anything, the evidence for the 1990’s indicates a positive relationship between import tariffs and economic growth.” He goes on to add that current proposals for free trade are “ bad news for the world’s poor.”
We have seen and experienced the benefits of globalization in the west. But then from time to time we also read stories about the poor being exploited in the name of globalization. So is this globalization only for the rich and the west ?
_______________________________________________________________________
Here is something from the archives of 1997 of The Progressive. (www.progressive.org)
Corporate Ambassador by Matthew Rothschild
If you're a U.S. corporation operating overseas, you can usually count on the U.S. embassy to plow a path for you.
So it has been for Enron in India. The oil and gas company has a power project underway in Dabhol, a rural coast area 160 miles from Bombay. This project has caused protests for many months in India. Activists claim that the state government seized the land for the project, evicting farmers without compensation. And they fear that the plant will cause environmental damage.
In May of 1997, thousands of Indians demonstrated against the plant. The police responded with tear gas and batons, injuring at least 100 people. Amnesty International has concluded that the police force protecting Enron has "prevented all forms of peaceful and democratic protest and used force and violence while dealing with all forms of nonviolent protest."
But Enron had a reliable friend in India. His name is Frank Wisner, and he was U.S. ambassador to India from 1994 to 1997. According to Vijay Prashad, a professor at Trinity College, Wisner "offered every assistance to Enron as it vied for a $1.1 billion contract for offshore holdings as well as for consolidation of its interests" in the power plant in Dabhol.
For his assistance, Wisner now has been duly compensated. On October 28, Enron Oil and Gas announced that Wisner would join the company's board of directors.
"We are extremely pleased to have Frank Wisner, who brings exceptional foreign service experience with international-business markets, join our board," said the head of Enron Oil and Gas. The company said it expects "to benefit immediately" from Ambassador Wisner's appointment.
The company also noted that Wisner was senior adviser for pacification in a Vietnamese province during the war there.
For his pacification skills in India, he now has a seat on the board, pulling in $10,000 a quarter for the pleasure of attending a meeting. That's how the power elite works in America.
_____________________________________________________________________
We’ve all read several news stories about Enron and this Dabhol case. Now in a corrupt environment, where government officials can be bought, and rules and regulations twisted to serve the interests of big corporations and the rich, how can we make the market mechanism work ? and how can it help the poor ?
Ironically, recent news say that the Dabhol Power Co is in trouble and Enron is trying
to get rid of its stake in that company, because the state government is refusing
to pay saying the rate is too high. So much for globalization and the invisible hand. With so many corrupt, selfish hands at work, the invisible hand will hardly get a chance to work its miracle.
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